Harrison Drury and Co Solicitors
About us
In 1901 William Henry Coupe began trading as a solicitor from the upstairs floor of 12 Lune Street in Preston. Shortly after the First World War, in around 1919, William Harrison joined Mr Coupe forming the firm Coupe & Harrison.
In 1952 the firm went through a period of transformation with the arrival of Thomas Waterworth Drury. The firm changed its name to Coupe Harrison & Drury and later to Harrison Drury & Co following Mr Coupe’s departure from the practice. Mr Drury made a number of appointments expanding the business rapidly and focusing on property conveyancing.
When Mr Harrison passed away in 1954 the business continued to operate, for a short time, from the upper floors of 10-12 Lune Street until Mr Drury seized the opportunity to acquire 3 Fleet Street, Preston, which had formerly been owned by Palmer & Harvey as a Confectionery and Tobacco warehouse. Before that, 3 Fleet Street was a corn mill, and in the 19th Century was ideally located near to the Corn Exchange and on the bank of the canal terminus which has since been filled in to form Fleet Street.
By the time Mr Drury passed away in December 1967, he had invested heavily into 3 Fleet Street and the practice in general. In 1968 John James Moorby joined the practice and its name was changed to Harrison Drury & Moorby.
In 1973 a youthful John Edmund Starkie joined the firm as an assistant, becoming a partner in 1974. Mr Starkie began to develop the firm’s litigation expertise, building on the long established conveyancing, wills and probate departments.
In 1981 the departure of Mr Moorby saw the firm’s name revert to Harrison Drury & Co which it remains to this day.
The modern day firm provides a range of legal services for businesses and private individuals including commercial property services, commercial dispute resolution, business sales and purchases, residential conveyancing, civil litigation, family law, employment law, and wills and probate.
In 2007, John Chesworth joined the firm to spearhead its commercial property litigation team and in April 2007, he was appointed managing partner with Edmund Starkie remaining as senior partner of the practice.